Behind the Mask
by Sonata Ann
Summary: The Sky Ninja Academy. A school that teaches only a selected few how to hold the power to manipulate all the elements. But after the school was destroyed, there was only one lone survivor who went to seek for help. With secrets to keep, they find the rangers in hopes that they'll help them especially now that Lothor is out to get them.
1. Store Chaos

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

It was early in the afternoon and it was a busy day at Storm Chargers for Dustin, Hunter, and Blake were working as fast as they could to help the customers. It was the "End of the Season: Summer Sale's Event," and the store was packed with people. With shoppers pushing and shoving to get what they want, the three rangers had to work double time.

"Hey, guys!"

The three barely heard the greeting above the noise of the crowd. They glanced up to see Shane standing there waving at them.

"Hey!"

"Hi, Shane."

"Hey there."

They greeted before going back to work. Seeing the workload his friends had to cover, he offered his help to them, which they graciously took, and set himself to work.

Shane had been surprised to see the store packed upon his entrance and knew the guys would need some help, especially when Kelly was out sick. She had insisted to show up to at least help with the chaos, but her employees wouldn't allow it, saying how she has been working too hard and needed to rest. This left Kelly comfortably at home, and the guys struggling to keep up with the crowd. Now that Shane was helping them, a bit of the workload was taken off, but it wasn't enough.

Another hour went by since Shane offered his help when a flash of blue came up to the counter and greeted them.

"Hey, guys! This place sure is packed," Tori commented. "Need help?" She offered her help, never missing a heartbeat. Tori laughed when she saw them nodding their heads furiously.

With a grin and a shake of her head, she turned to face the crowd and began to yell over them. "Excuse me! If you would, purchases line up over here," she pointed to where Blake was stationed behind the register and then pointed towards Hunter's direction. "Returns and exchanges line up over there. If you have any questions regarding equipment..."

The guys breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the blonde taking control of the crowd. Everything was disorganized before she showed up, so thank their lucky stars she did!

"Oh, man!" Dustin cried out after helping a customer. "Tori's my hero!"

The guys nodded their heads in agreement, but Blake was the only who vocally responded. "I feel ya," Blake said after ringing up a customer. He let his eyes follow the blonde as she walked around the store repeating herself so the customers knew where to go and assisting them in any way that she can. Blake grinned at her helpfulness, how no matter how rude the customers would get, she spoke to them with a friendly smile.

He was soon pulled out of his trance when someone nudged him really hard on his shoulder.

"Ow!" He turned to see Hunter glaring at him.

"What?"

"Quit daydreaming and get back to work," he told him before returning to the customer before him.

Rubbing his sore spot, Blake turned to the customer before him and laughed nervously when he saw the irritation on their face.

He chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that." Blake punched in a series of buttons before saying, "That'll be $10.39."

: ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) :

It was nearing 5 o' clock when the crowd finally settled down. Shane and Hunter were at the registers while Tori and Dustin were restocking the shelves leaving Blake to answer any questions the customers may have.

Once the clock hit 5, Dustin rushed over to the door and flipped the sign from "Open" to "Close." Soon the remaining customers left, and the rangers collapsed from exhaustion in the sitting room.

"Man, that was some crowd." Hunter sighed, stretching his arms over his head.

Dustin agreed. "Dude, I don't feel like doing anything for the rest of the day!"

At this, Tori sat up in her seat and looked at the guys. "Does that mean we're not going to hang out later?" The team had planned on hanging out that day. Just some good old fashioned ranger bonding, but their plans had been placed on hold when the store seemed to be the most popular place to be at for the day. What with Lothor being quiet for some time now, the rangers had decided to hang out together and have fun. Now it seems that they're going to have to reschedule.

"I don't know, Tor," came Blake's voice. "I'm pretty beat."

Tori frowned at this and saw that the guys looked exhausted. She was exhausted herself, but she was looking forward to just spending the rest of the day with her team. At that thought, she just realized something.

"Hey, Cam's suppose to be here." Tori commented. Even though there seemed to be a silent agreement that they weren't going to do anything for the rest of the day, the green ranger had agreed prior to that day that he was going to meet up with them. He wasn't aware of the sudden plan change.

Right on cue, the bell on the door rang, signaling the rangers of a newcomer. They all looked up to see Cam heading towards them. However, they all noticed that something was bothering him. He wasn't his usual calm, collected self.

"Hey, Cam," Shane greeted. "What's up?"

"Yeah, seriously, dude," said Dustin, lifting his head up to get a good view of him. "You looked pretty bugged out."

At this, Cam finally looked up at them, Dustin's comment having broken him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, hey, guys." Cam then thought over what Dustin had said and shook his head. "Oh, it's fine. It's nothing you need to worry about." Whatever was on his mind, he didn't want them to worry about it at the moment. He could tell them about it later. It wasn't like the sudden appearance of an unknown person collapsed right outside the waterfall was unusual. No, it was nothing.

Nothing to worry about.

Tori wasn't convinced at Cam's comment and voiced her thoughts. "Are you sure?" Tori asked, worry etched in her face.

Cam gave her a smile as reassurance. "It's fine." He paused and took a look at the rest of his teammates. They were all in a laidback position, finding comfort in the couches, a telltale sign that they had a hard day of work. "So are we not going to head out?" Cam asked, although, he already knew what the answer is going to be just by looking at them.

Hunter waved him off. "How 'bout tomorrow? I'm just too tired to do anything right now." As if to prove his point, he slumped even more into his seat.

There was a chorus of agreements from the other guys whereas Tori only looked up at Cam with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Cam," Tori said. She felt guilty that he came all the way from Ninja Ops just to find out that they weren't going to do anything else for the remainder of the day. "If you want, we can still hang out. You and me." She didn't want his walk to the store to be a waste of time, and he realized this himself.

With a smile, Cam nodded. "Sure." He then turned to the rest of the gang, taking note that they were now watching with raised eyebrows, before saying, "So we'll meet outside Ninja Ops?"

There were mumbled "yeahs" as they watched Tori and Cam leave the store. An awkward silence fell over them once the door closed behind them, and it was Dustin who broke it.

"Dude... did that just happen?"

Shane reached over and slapped him upside the head. Dustin cried out in pain as Shane said, "Bro, shut up." He gave him a pointed look before nodding his head over towards Blake, who was staring after the two as he watched them walk out of sight. Surprise was written all over his face at what took place, and it wasn't until Hunter gave him a small nudge that he was broken out of his reverie.

"Bro, you alright?" Hunter asked. He knew his brother wouldn't be, but it was only right for him to ask. Although he knew what Tori's true intentions were, Hunter had a feeling that Blake's jealousy would be eating at him.

With a shake of his head, Blake crossed his arms. "Yeah, sure. I'm fine," he said in a tone in which they knew was the exact opposite of what he said. Hunter, Shane, and Dustin only looked at each other before chuckling, knowing full well how the navy ranger felt.

"You know," Dustin whispered, leaning over towards Hunter and Shane. "It's almost as if Blake took that love potion from before."

Hunter and Shane laughed whereas Blake only grumbled having heard what Dustin said. He remembered the incident when both Cam and himself had taken a love potion by accident and had fought for the affections of the resident blue ranger. The only difference this time is, other than the fact that a love potion isn't involved, that Blake doesn't have the guts to intervene between the two like he did when he was under the influence of the potion. Otherwise, Cam wouldn't be with Tori at the moment. It would've been Tori and -

"Hey, so we better lock up and head on out."

Broken out of his thoughts, Blake looked over to see Hunter getting up. He followed suit along with Shane and Dustin, both stretching as they got up from their seats.

"Yeah, man," Shane called out. "Then I'm going to head home, eat, shower, then hit the sack!"

"I hear ya!" Dustin agreed.

They all looked around, making sure that everything is in place and in tip-top shape. After locking the register and turning out the lights, the guys all filed out of the store with Dustin in tow to lock the doors. Once the doors were locked, they walked some distance away from the store before saying their goodbyes to each other and going their separate ways, looking forward to a goodnight's rest.

**Now this is the real chapter one in case you have read my first chapter one before this! I was obviously loopy when I had switched my first two chapters. So. Now that I'm done talking.. Review!**


	2. Sparring

**Disclaimer: I do not own a single thing.**

It was mid-day when the rangers met up outside Ninja Ops that next day. They had split up into pairs and headed off into different directions of the forest to spar.

In one area of the forest, Cam and Dustin had been at it for awhile. The both of them had been pretty good with keeping up with one another, dodging and blocking the other's attacks. It wasn't until Dustin stopped all of a sudden that when Cam sent a punch towards his face, Dustin ducked at the last second to avoid getting hit, which left Cam in surprise at his sudden stillness.

"Woah," Dustin exclaimed. "That was close!"

"You said it," Cam agreed. "What was that about anyways?"

Dustin stared at him for a good minute before he asked, "Is there anything going on between you and Tori?"

Taken aback at his sudden question, Cam suspected that he heard him wrong. However, when he asked for him to repeat, Cam looked at him with surprise. "What makes you think anything is going on between me and Tori?" He eyed the yellow ranger with curiosity. Obviously if he was thinking that something was going on, then that would mean the others were thinking the same thing as well.

Right? Probably. Most likely... Yes. Especially someone he has in mind.

Dustin scratched his head. "Well because obviously you two went out yesterday."

Cam raised his eyebrow at his answer, shaking his head at how Dustin never really gave it some thought as to why him and Tori went out.

So scratch that. Probably. Most likely... the others did think this one out a lot better than Dustin. But then again, probably not _everyone._

"It was nothing, Dustin." Cam sighed, and before Dustin could say anything else, Cam sent a kick, which Dustin dodged. Soon the two were back into their sparring, sending punches and kicks at one another. It wasn't long until the brown haired man began to weaken as Cam continued to block his every move. Once he saw an opening, Cam flipped over his head and sent Dustin a roundhouse kick to his legs, causing him to land on his back. Quickly jumping back onto his feet, Dustin slowly realized that Cam disappeared during his lack of focus. He carefully searched his surroundings but couldn't find his sparring partner.

Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to face his opponent, but was thrown completely off guard when felt a finger poke his cheek. Falling back in surprise, Dustin stumbled into the ground as Cam laughed

"Hey, man! What's so funny?" Dustin asked.

"Man, you should have seen the look on your face when you fell!" Cam exclaimed in between laughs, glad that he was able to distract him from asking anymore questions.

"Dude, that is so not funny," Dustin said, pointing a finger at him. "Besides," he breathed. "I'm getting tired."

Cam nodded. "Well, then we're going to have to wait on the others."

"Fine. Then I'll just be over here. Wake me up when they're done, would you?" And before the green ranger could respond, Dustin slowly moved towards a nearby tree, propped himself against it, and fell asleep. Cam just shook his head, chuckling at the yellow ranger's antics.

: ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) :

Surrounded by a series of fallen trees, Shane and Hunter were sparring one another. It was just an easy-going sparring between the two, warming up with one another before they got into it full on.

It didn't take long for them to warm up, and soon they were trying to knock the other down.

"Dude, you so cannot beat me," said Shane as he blocked a punch thrown by Hunter.

The crimson ninja smirked. "I bet I can," he replied, blocking a kick.

"I bet you can't."

A smirk began to grow on Shane's face as the two ninjas knew where this was headed.

"Loser buys the winner a meal?" Hunter questioned, knowing his answer already.

"Oh, you're so on."

Then what started as a simple sparring match turned into a full out battle. Shane and Hunter were repeatedly punching, blocking, and kicking until one of them slipped up, allowing for the other to take advantage of their moment of weakness and knocking them into the ground.

"Dammit!"

"Yes!" Shane laughed, throwing his hands in the air. "Free food!"

Hunter looked up at Shane with surprise before coming to his senses and stood up. "Hey, I want a rematch."

Shane wagged his finger in his face. "Nu-uh-uh," he sang. "You know the rules."

Hunter grunted, crossing his arms. "I'll get you next time," he mumbled. "That's for sure."

Shane just laughed.

: ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) :

In another part of the woods on the hillside, Blake and Tori were sparring swiftly and smoothly. Each of them were holding themselves up pretty well on their own, deflecting whatever came their way and sending their counterpart an attack. Tori threw a punch, aiming at Blake's chest, which he blocked. He, in turn, sent her a kick towards her legs in which she jumped over.

"Nice kick," the water ninja commented.

"Nice punch," replied the thunder ninja.

"Hmm, well don't let the blonde hair fool you. You're going down." Tori said with a smile growing on her face.

During her time yesterday with Cam, there had been times where she had zoned out, and it had gone unnoticed by Cam. He was always the perceptive one when his thoughts weren't so heavily occupied. Cam had questioned her a couple of times when it happened, but she would just wave it off saying that it was nothing. However, the both of them knew it wasn't nothing, but Cam never pushed the subject further, which Tori was thankful for.

The entire time her and Cam were out, she couldn't help but think about someone else and what they might've been doing at that moment. Now, looking before her, she couldn't help but feel happy about who she was with.

Blake chuckled. "Oh, yeah?" He reached over and tried to grab on to Tori, but she grabbed him first and pinned him down. Tori grinned as she stood up. "Now that's how a girl does it," she exclaimed, placing a hand to her hip and holding her head up high in victory.

Tori then turned her gaze back towards Blake only to realize that he was gone. She took a look of her surroundings, searching for any sign of him, until she felt someone grab her by the waist and pulled her down. The two then rolled down the hillside until they came to a stop with Tori underneath her captor. Having her eyes closed during the tumble down, Tori opened them and looked up to see Blake grinning at her.

"I took you by surprise, didn't I?" Blake asked with a smirk. Although, he wasn't sure what came over him to do such actions.

"Well, yeah," Tori breathed, trying to hide the redness on her cheeks.

Silence fell between the two as they stared into each other's eyes, each of them feeling a tingling sensation growing in them. Then without a single thought, Blake closed his eyes and began to close the gap between them. Tori watched him with wide eyes as she focused on controlling her racing heart. Just as Tori shut her eyes close, each of them now feeling the other's breath, the two heard their names being called.

Suddenly realizing their position, Blake quickly separated himself away from Tori and turned away to hide his growing blush, leaving Tori to get up on her own.

"Uhm... the guys are calling us," Blake commented, nervously scratching his head. "I think we should go."

"Yeah," came Tori's shaky reply. "Wouldn't want them to worry."

The two then jogged their way back up the hill and towards the area the rest of the group were with Blake leading the way, which gave the two some space to think about what just took place. They both knew that they had wished the kiss happened, but, at the same time, was scared how the other person would react.

Without realizing it, Blake and Tori soon met up with their fellow teammates. They slowed to a walk once they were close enough, and it was then that the other guys noticed their unusual silence.

"Did something happen?" Cam asked, taking in their silence

"Yeah, and what took you guys so long?" Hunter added.

Blake shrugged, but not before scratching his head nervously. "Eh, you know. Just sparring."

Reminded of what had occurred earlier, Tori tried to hold back a blush as she nodded her head. "Yeah, sparring." The guys noticed this and laughed, knowing that something must've happened to cause the two blues to act this way.

At the sound of their laughter, Dustin woke up and stood up with a yawn. "Hey, guys. What'd I miss?"

Hearing this, Shane and Hunter laughed even harder and Cam chuckling with a shake of his head, causing Blake and Tori to grow even redder than before. Dustin only stood there looking confused.

"Okay, you guys. That's enough," Cam said in a lightly scolding tone. "We better start heading back to Ninja Ops. It's getting late." They all nodded and began their trek back to their hideout.

Along the way there, Dustin began to tell everyone of his spar with Cam and how he scared the crap out of him. They all laughed, and Shane began to tell his victory as the team climbed down the staircase into Ops.

Once inside, Cam had excused himself, saying that he had to check on something, but this didn't stop Shane from bragging about his victory.

Hunter had a grumpy look and had his arms crossed. "I so could've taken you down," he mumbled.

Shane cupped his ear, leaning in closer to Hunter for him to speak louder. "I'm sorry. What? I can't hear you?"

This earned Shane a slap upside the head by Hunter, who was now grinning at the sight of Shane in pain.

Shane growled. "You want a rematch? I'll give you a rematch!" And he tackled Hunter into the ground, both boys now wrestling. Dustin and Blake were now laughing and cheering while Tori only smiled whilst shaking her head.

A small crash was then heard, causing the rangers to fall silent. Both Shane and Hunter slowly got up as they all looked at each other before Tori called out.

"Cam? Is everything okay?"

Their only response was footsteps shuffling in a hurry, and soon the rangers began to head towards the sound. As they turned the corner, they expected to see Cam. However, what they didn't expect to see was a masked stranger clad in a black ninja suit trimmed with white surrounded by broken glass.

**Greetings! So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I want to apologize for the delay. I had some college stuff to tend to, and then this past weekend I went to the One Direction concert! Any fans out there? Hahah, I'm not a big psycho fan like my friend... maybe just a little bit.. I blame her fangirl influence. Hahaha! Anywhos, review!**


	3. Revealed

**Greetings! And welcome to this fine establishment of the third chapter! Whelp, not much to say here, so on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

"What the..."

"How did anyone...?"

"Dude! I didn't know we had a white uniform!"

Everybody stared at Dustin, who stared back with a questioning look.

"What? I'm serious!" Dustin defended.

They only shook their heads before turning back at the stranger, but only to realize that they were gone. The rangers looked at each other before they raced down the hall after the intruder.

"Hey," Shane called out. "Stop right there!"

The intruder stood frozen on the spot right outside a door. The group moved to circle around them, lessening their chances of escape. It was then that the masked intruder turned around to face the rangers, looking at them through brown eyes. In response, the rangers moved into defensive positions before Shane spoke again.

"Now tell us who you are and how you got here." But his only response was when the stranger moved into a fighting stance, although, not without flinching. Tori, who was the only one to notice this, let her guard down, analyzing the stranger and noticing that they had a cast on their wrist.

Realizing their injury, she tried calling the guys to attention, but it was apparent that they didn't hear her. The guys only smirked with thoughts of winning an easy battle. With a shake of her head, Tori only watched the opponent carefully and with caution.

She watched on as, one by one, the masked stranger slowly took out her teammates. Tori felt familiarity as she took note of the fighting style that the opponent was using. She wracked her brain, trying to remember where she had read or heard about that style.

It wasn't until Hunter hit the ground last did Tori realize where this person came from based on their technique.

The masked stranger turned towards Tori albeit their injury getting worse, waiting for her to make the first move. Tori only cocked her head to the side before shaking her head, which only surprised her opponent and the guys.

"Tori, what are you doing?" Blake asked as he moved to get up as well as the others.

"Yeah, this guy totally kicked our butt!" Dustin cried.

"You're not seriously going to surrender, are you?" Hunter questioned.

But Tori only ignored them. A smile slowly formed on her lips before she spoke to the stranger. "You're from the Sky Ninja Academy," Tori asked. "Aren't you?"

The stranger gave her a look of surprise and was about to respond when a voice cut them off.

"What happened here?" All six pairs of eyes turned to see Cam with a tray of food.

Shane was the first to speak. "Dude, Cam, you better watch out. This guy can pack a punch."

Cam raised an eyebrow and glanced at his teammates to see that the guys took a pretty bad beating before turning to the stranger.

"Sheila," Cam said in a scolding tone, shaking his head. "You're supposed to be resting from your injuries."

The gang looked at the stranger before turning back to Cam.

"Sheila?" Came Hunter's incredulous reply.

"Yeah," Blake started. "But that a girl's..." He trailed off as the stranger removed their mask to reveal a girl with chestnut colored tresses that curled slightly to the mid of her back. She had fair skin, with the exception of a band-aid on her forehead, with a rosy tint to her cheeks and a tiny mole next to her right eye.

"...name," Blake finished lamely. The guys fell into shock as they all realized that they just got beaten by a girl. Tori began to laugh as realization hit them.

"Aw, man," Dustin exclaimed, being the first to come out of his stupor. "We just got beat by a girl!"

Hunter scoffed. "She probably used some funky ninja stuff to cheat." Hearing this, Tori stopped laughing as Sheila shot Hunter a challenging look.

Tori narrowed her eyes. "Do you really want to go there?"

"Guys!" Cam interjected, stepping in between them. "That's enough." Cam then turned to face Sheila and said to her, "And what are you doing out of bed?"

Unconsciously, Sheila grabbed at her side to hold in the pain. Cam noticed this, giving her a pointed look. Realizing this, she attempted to play it off by shrugging, but even that small movement was a bit of pain for her.

Sheila sighed. "I just got tired of being in bed," she reasoned. "And I was thirsty."

"So you walked around with your mask on." Shane commented.

She let out a small laugh, scratching her head. "Well as vain as I could get, I don't like to walk around with a band-aid on my face." They all laughed at her response, understanding where she was coming from. They all didn't exactly fancy the idea of people asking them periodically what happened to them and how they got their injury.

Before Shane could ask her another question, Dustin beat him to it.

"Hey, not to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?"

"And how'd you come here?" Blake added.

Knowing now that Cam was the one who had taken Sheila under his care, Tori asked Cam if he knew.

Cam shook his head. "I don't even know." He turned to face Sheila and spoke while looking at her. "She was injured when I found her, and I only had thoughts of taking care of her."

Sheila looked away from him, knowing that she was going to have to tell them her story. It pained her just thinking about it, but she knew that it wouldn't be fair to keep them in the dark, especially when Cam had been kind enough to tend to her injuries.

"Mind if we talk about this in the room," she asked. "I need to sit."

They all nodded as they followed her through the door she was trying to get into earlier.

Sheila made her way towards the bed and made herself comfortable as the rangers took places around her, waiting for her to begin.

"Where do I start," she asked no one in particular.

Tori spoke up. "Why don't you start with who you are?" The guys nodded in agreement, watching her with curious eyes.

Sheila nodded as well. "Right, well, my name is Sheila Malone. I am 17 years old and I come from the Sky Ninja Academy."

"The Sky Ninja Academy?" Hunter interjected. "Isn't that the school Tori mentioned earlier?"

"Yes, and I'm surprised that someone has actually heard about it." Sheila said, looking at Tori with curiosity.

Tori responded, "Well I've read about it in one of the old scrolls. There wasn't a lot of information about it though. I've always wondered why like..." Tori paused to collect her thoughts before continuing. "There are scrolls where it talks about other ninja schools, but in the one scroll that I've read about your school, there was barely any information."

Hearing this, the guys looked surprised. Dustin was the first to voice his thoughts.

"Is this academy some top-secret place no one is suppose to know about?"

Sheila nodded. "Basically, yeah." The rangers looked at her as if to continue with an explanation, but when she didn't, Shane asked, "So are you going to tell us about the academy?"

A flash of emotion appeared on her face, but it was gone before any of them noticed.

Sheila shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't." She looked over at Shane and saw that he was going to interject, so she added, "Just... realize that there are some things that I cannot talk about... Or at least not at this moment." She gave him look, and he, as well as the others, realized that they were on a touchy subject. "The only piece of information that you are allowed to know is whatever she has read," she finished saying, nodding her head towards Tori's direction.

All eyes turned to Tori as they waited for an answer to their unheard question.

Tori took a deep breath. "From what I remember, all the scroll mentioned about the Sky Ninja Academy was its fighting style like how they wait for their opponent to strike before attacking."

Cam looked at her confused. "What were you doing with a scroll like that?

"Well at the time, I was trying to learn how to channel the power of water better, so I read through the scrolls I knew would help me, and then that information showed up." Tori looked at Sheila. "Could you tell us why it did?"

Sheila thought for a second before saying, "Our fighting style allows us to sense our surroundings and channel the elements around us, which is probably why it showed up in one of your scrolls. To give an insight of our technique."

Tori nodded, but scrunched her eyebrows together. "Yeah, but it never made any sense to me. It was too vague."

Sheila gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but that's all you can know."

At this, Shane shot her an annoyed look. Being the leader of the group, he had taken it upon himself to make sure that people outside the group were as honest as they came across so as to make sure that his teammates does not face betrayal. Take Hunter and Blake for example. Sure in the end they all turned out to be the best of friends, however, in the beginning, it had hurt the team immensely when they had found out that they had gone behind their backs. It was an obstacle to overcome when building up their camaraderie, and now, they're family. But this didn't stop Shane from being on the edge when meeting new people, especially when said people are suddenly in their secret hideout.

"Then what can you tell us? How can we trust you? How do we know you're not working for Lothor?" Shane asked her.

At the sound of his name, Sheila flinched, and this did not go unnoticed by all of them.

"Shane," came Cam's stern voice, but Sheila shook her head.

"It's okay, Cam," she said in a soft voice, looking at the ground. Sheila took deep breaths as she pushed back memories that began to resurface. She knew that he was only being careful, but it didn't stop the pain that was going through her heart. He doesn't know what happened to her, how she ended up in Ninja Ops, why she's here. In fact, they don't know anything about her! It was only understandable that he was just looking out for his team.

Once she had calmed down, Sheila looked at each ranger in the eye and spoke. "I'm the only one left from the academy."

Guilt rushed through him as Shane moved towards her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't know," Shane apologized. "But we'll get all of the ninjas back home, right guys?"

There was a chorus of agreements ringing around the room, but it ended when they saw Sheila shaking her head. They stared with confusion as Sheila was now looking off to the side. It soon began too hard for her to breath as she felt sobs getting caught up in her throat, and tears springing to her eyes.

At this, Shane moved his hand to her back, rubbing her there to comfort her albeit being shocked from her reaction.

"Are you okay?" Shane asked her. She only closed her eyes and took slow, deep breaths before opening her eyes again to look at them.

Sheila shook her head and opened her mouth to speak. However, when she spoke, it was barely above a whisper that the rangers hoped that they misheard her.

"I'm the only one left alive from the academy."

**So! How are ya'll liking this so far? It'd be nice to hear your thoughts on this. And on a side note, a "for your information," I'm not exactly a promising writer, so if you would, just bare with me as I try to update this story as frequently as I can. I would very much appreciate it. Thank you!**


	4. Unbelievable

**So I just _love_ how I told you that I'm not a promising writer at the end of the last chapter, and I just went ahead and proved that. Hahah, man, I'm just the worst. Like seriously, I'm just all talk but I don't do anything. Pah! Well, anyways, I'm kind of getting back into the groove of writing. I have the next two chapters planned out, so all I have to do is type it up. Hope for the best that I just don't lose my groove!**

**On another note: There is reference to "A Gem a Day" from the series in here. Just so you guys know.**

Silence fell upon the group as they tried to register what Sheila had just told them. Her being the last ninja from her academy was the last thing they expected her to say. No matter how strong the toughest of the group is, it all but broke their hearts to even see the young girl before them trying to keep up a strong front.

Within the group, it hurt Cam the most as he watched Tori move towards her and wrapped her arms around her as Sheila just sat there, trying to keep it all in. HE had seen the state Sheila was in when he found her. HE had seen her breakdown uncontrollably before she had passed out from exhaustion. And this was all because of HIS uncle. HIS UNCLE! Sure the guy was evil, but he never thought that he would've killed off an _entire_ ninja academy! For every other academy, Lothor had simply taken them as prisoner. Why was the Sky Ninja Academy any different?

Obviously being the sole survivor of her school was definitely not easy, but Sheila has all the answers they need. _He_ needs. However, in her state, Cam knew that he should give her some time to recover before he could ask her any questions.

Suddenly feeling claustrophobic, Cam excused himself from the room and walked outside of Ninja Ops. He needed to clear his head, and the fresh air would do him some good.

Soon, Cam reached the lake side and stood at the edge, feeling the soft wind dancing against his skin. He watched as the stillness of the waters was disturbed every now and then by fish coming up to the surface, and birds coming down for a bite or for a wash of their feathers. He felt his surroundings taking on a calming effect on him, although quite slowly. His mind couldn't help but remind him of his current misery.

It wasn't long until Cam heard footsteps coming up from behind him. He turned around, thinking that it would be Tori to comfort him, but was surprised to see Hunter instead.

"What are you doing here?" Cam asked, watching as the crimson ranger moved to stand next to him.

"Nothing," he responded as he stared out into the lake. Hunter then took a side glance at him and saw that Cam had a disbelieving look.

Hunter shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," he said honestly.

Startled at his answer, Cam asked, "Why?"

Hunter then chuckled, knowing full well that both Cam and himself thought that he would be the last person to see him. "Well, after you helped me out with my parents, I just thought that I owed you. Besides," Hunter added. "You looked like you could use someone to talk to. Your mind looks like it's about to blow."

Cam laughed. He did remember helping Hunter sort out his problems about his parents, and he appreciated the fact that Hunter came out to check on him. "Thanks." Cam said appreciatively before falling silent.

Hunter looked at him with concern, seeing the inner turmoil Cam was going through. "So what's up?" Hunter questioned. "Why'd you leave?"

Cam glanced at him, debating whether or not he wanted to share his thoughts with him. Hunter saw this, so he said, "Hey, it's okay if you don't want to share. You are entitled to have your own secrets."

Cam scoffed at this, which surprised Hunter, as he turned to look at him in full view. "What I'm confused about is how Sheila was able to find us. How was she able to locate our secret entrance? We never came across anyone who wanted to know where we were hidden," he said sarcastically before turning back to face the lake.

"Then the thing that gets to me…" Cam shook his head in frustration. "The way that Sheila ended up here the way she is is thanks to my "uncle." I mean Lothor has kidnapped all the other ninja students. What was the Sky Ninja Academy any different? Why did he have to kill off an _entire_ academy? None of this just makes any sense!" Cam threw his hands up in frustration, the feeling rattling his inner mind. He breathed heavily as he let the wave of anger drift away after he much needed rant.

Hunter placed a hand on his shoulder, grabbing Cam's attention. "So we don't know a lot of things right now. No big deal. In time, we'll know all the answer to our questions. Fate probably doesn't want us to know just yet, so for now, we just have to keep it together."

Cam stared at him for a moment before he chuckled, shaking his head, knowing full well that he was right. There is always going to be obstacles that will get in their way no matter how horrible things could be. He just had to remember that he wasn't facing it alone. However, deep in his mind, Cam couldn't help but blame himself for the position he placed Sheila in.

_His uncle._ If anything, when the time comes, Lothor is going to have to pay the price dearly. For now though, cool and collected is how he needs to be.

"Since when did you become an expert on this?" Cam joked, although, looking at him seriously.

Hunter shrugged. "Well with everything Blake and I went through, you could say that this is basely from experience."

Cam nodded. Losing their parents and working under Lothor through false pretenses would open up one's mind to a lot of things.

"Well, thanks," Cam said. "For the talk I mean… I appreciate it."

"It's no problem," responded Hunter.

: ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) :

By the time Cam and Hunter came back to Ninja Ops, Shane, Dustin, Blake, and Tori were already settled around the center table on their respective pillows. Upon their entrance, the group looked up to see them making their way to them and settle into their seats.

"Is everything alright?" Tori asked. Cam and Hunter nodded.

"Yeah, we're good," Cam responded. "How is Sheila doing?"

"She's resting now," said Shane. "I just hope that she'll be able to cope from this."

After Cam left the room, followed by Hunter, the group talked to Sheila a little bit more before allowing her to rest. They had told her that she was free to call for them if she needed anything, which she gave them a small smile before nodding off to sleep. Afterwards, they were just talking amongst themselves, trying to find a way how to help her. To be the only sole survivor is one of the most unimaginable things someone so young has to go through. Compared to her situation, all the rangers had to do is to rescue their fellow ninjas.

In the end, the only thing the rangers can do to help Sheila is to offer her their condolences and take down Lothor.

Cam nodded. "Well, Father will be here tomorrow from his retreat. I'm sure that he'll be a bigger help to her than us put together."

"Heh, talk about bad timing," Dustin commented, referring to the retreat.

"No kidding."

**A rather lame ending but I just did not know how to work with it so I'm just leaving it at that, and I'm just too lazy to go back and revise this chapter. Blehh. So. Tell me what you think?**


	5. A Burden

**So my groove is still here. I'm surprise that it is actually, and it's only been two days since I've last updated! Hahah, well tonight my sister has some band stuff going on, and I'll be there to support her, so I figured that I'd use this time to work on this. I'll also try to begin the next chapter before tonight.**

**In this chapter, just to give you guys a little bit of an insight, this is more Sheila centered just so you will get to know her more.**

Shelia woke up the next morning with a bit of her energy back. She had woken up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare that had left her terrified. Because of how late it was, she stayed up in her bed in the darkness by herself to fend off her fearsome visions for a long while before finally falling into a dreamless sleep.

At the thought of her nightmare, fear enveloped her as Sheila shut her eyes close and tried to think of happy thoughts, but she was just too numb to even remember what happy thoughts were.

When she heard her bedroom door being opened, Sheila threw her covers over her head and just hoped that her blanket had some form of protective charm to help her.

With a tray of food in his hands, Cam entered the room the same time Sheila had tossed her blankets into the air before landing on top of her head, no doubt out of fear. Cam sighed, swallowing his anger along with thoughts of his no good uncle as he made his way towards her bedside.

He placed the tray down on the bedside table before reaching out to her. Before he could even touch her, Sheila grabbed his wrist with one hand and grabbed his upper arm with the other, flipping him in the air over her bed and throwing him against the wall. Cam landed with a loud thud, his back hitting against the hard floor, and moaned in pain.

Sheila gasped when she realized that it was him and quickly moved to help him up, ignoring the pain that surged through her body from the sudden movement.

"Oh, my gosh! Cam!" Sheila exclaimed. She moved in front of him to help him up, but he shook his head, saying that it was fine. She wouldn't allow it though, and she moved to his right side, wrapping her left arm around his back and held his right hand in her right. Sheila then moved the two towards her bed and had him sit. The impact of him suddenly being thrown across the room did hurt him, so he didn't argue. However, he did move to allow her to sit next to him, which she did.

Still worried from the pain she may have caused him, Sheila placed a soft hand on his shoulder and asked him, "Are you okay?"

Cam chuckled at her reaction, finding the situation ironic. Here she was, feeling worried for him for one small injury, when she herself is covered with more.

"I'm fine," Cam responded. "It's okay."

Then, to prove that he was alright, he stood up, but not without wincing. This didn't go unnoticed by Sheila.

"Cam…" She reached out for him to sit back down, but he shook his head and gave her a small smile, reassuring her that he was alright.

Sheila sighed, looking down at her hands and feeling entirely guilty. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." She then looked up into his eyes with guilt flowing through them. "I'm sorry," Sheila apologized again. "I had this nightmare and…"

She trailed off but Cam understood her. He reached over towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it to reassure her that it was fine, that everything is okay.

"Sheila, it's okay," Cam reassured. Then suddenly remembering why he came here, he walked around her bed and motioned towards the tray of food he had set out for her.

"Here, I made you breakfast," he said, motioning for her to sit back at the head of the bed and helping her get comfortable. He then picked up the tray and placed it carefully in front of her. He watched as Sheila leaned in and smelled the bowl of chicken soup appreciatively with a smile on her face before directing her smile towards him.

"Thank you. It's great," she commented, the smile reaching to her eyes.

Cam looked at her questioningly, before saying, "But you didn't even taste it yet."

Sheila laughed before saying, "I know, but I know it's going to taste great," as she reached for the spoon that was laid out for her.

It was Cam's turn to laugh as he watched her scoop a spoonful of the soup. Once she brought it to her lips, he saw that her eyes sparkled in delight at the taste, thinking that he'd much rather see a happy Sheila than the other.

"Cam, this is amazing!" Sheila exclaimed. "My taste buds!" And she spooned for more of her soup, savoring every bite of the soup each time she brought the liquid to her lips.

Cam laughed again, never once getting a response quite like hers before. "Well I'm glad that you enjoy it." With a smile on his face, Cam then turned around, walking towards the door and opening it. Before he left, he turned back to face Sheila, who was taking a sip of her orange juice, and said, "When you're done, my father would like to speak with you."

Sheila swallowed the portion that was in her mouth before responding, "Yeah, sure."

Cam nodded in acknowledgement and walked out, closing the door behind him. He didn't take more than three steps when he felt a panging in his chest. He brought his hand to where the panging was and pressed on it softly a couple of times.

"Hm, I'm going to need to see if that throw against the wall did some sort of impact on me," Cam said out loud as he made his way towards the kitchen to pour himself up a bowl of leftover soup for his breakfast.

: ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) :

It was almost noon when the rest of the rangers showed up at the base, talking amongst themselves as they made their way down the staircase. When they entered the room, they found Cam at his usual place in front of the computer, typing away and seeming to be in deep concentration.

"Hey, Cam," Blake called out. "What are you up to?"

The sound of pounding keys slowed down, but nevertheless, he kept typing as Cam responded, "I'm trying to pull up files of the Sky Ninja Academy, but…" He sighed, shaking his head. "It's proving to be rather difficult. It's like it's this top secret society nobody is supposed to know about." They watched as Cam pulled up scanners and go through files, seeing folders they've never seen before pop up on the screen. All looked to be complicated, but Cam seemed to understand everything perfectly.

"So that scroll that I found," spoke up Tori. "Is that really the only piece of information we have of that school?"

"It would seem so." Then with an afterthought, Cam said, "That scroll though… I'm going to have to ask my father where that scroll came from. Knowing its origin can be quite useful."

"What about Sheila?" Dustin asked. "Do you… do you think it's okay to ask her now?"

Logically speaking, Dustin has the right train of thought. They need to talk to her. They have questions that need some answering and any piece of information that she's willing to share would definitely be quite useful. On another note though, they need to consider her well-being. Wouldn't it be too soon to start asking her questions about her life?

At this, Cam stopped typing and turned in his seat to look at everybody. "To be honest, I don't know. She's been through a lot, and this has been only the third day since she's came here."

"The third day?" questioned Hunter.

Cam nodded. "She's been here since the day you guys had that sale at Storm Chargers."

"Ohh." Everybody nodded their heads in acknowledgement. Thinking back to that day, Cam had had been somewhat disturbed about something, which they now know.

"So," spoke up Shane in a light tone, attempting to lighten the mood and not allowing the silence to settle. "Where is that girl? Is she still in her room?" He began making his way towards the hallway that led to the bedrooms slowly, waiting for Cam to give him a confirmation.

"No," responded Cam, shaking his head. "She's with my father in his private room, talking."

"Huh, I wonder what they're talking about." Dustin commented, and no doubt, that's what everybody in the room was wondering.

: ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) : ( : ) :

It had been a good hour or so since Sheila walked into the private study of Sensei Watanabe, and for her to find a guinea pig in place of a human in her presence was amusing. That was until she learned how he came to be, and Sheila was filled with sadness and sorrow. She had even apologized for his form unconsciously, feeling as if she was the one to blame. Sensei only chuckled and laid a small paw on her hand, reassuring her that it was quite alright.

After that, introductions were made, and they soon began to make small talk. It was only this way, Sheila noted, that Sensei Watanabe was able to get her to be comfortable with speaking to him. He began by asking her about her well-being, which soon turned into him telling her how life is around Blue Bay Harbor and giving her that proper welcome she had yet to be greeted with.

There was a pause in their conversation after Sheila told him how much she enjoyed doing sports as much as the next person. During the length of their conversation, she had felt nothing but warmth and kindness coming from this stranger, and although she still doesn't know much of him, she felt herself beginning to open up to him. However, the only thing that was holding her back from being open to this seemingly trustworthy stranger were her customs, her traditions, the ways of the Sky Ninja Academy. Even if Sensei Watanabe was being honest and trustworthy towards her, she couldn't help but be precautious. That's just how she grew up.

And then there was her story of how she came to find the Wind Ninja Academy.

Noticing her long pause, Sensei Watanabe gave her a questioning look. "You seemed to be troubled, Sheila."

She only sighed in response as she turned her gaze down towards her hands, which were placed in her lap. She turned her hands palm-side up and stared at the lines that ran through her palms. Sheila thought long and hard. As much as she wanted to tell him her story, she wasn't strong enough to tell him just yet. She was still coping. It was always like this for her to keep everything on the inside ever since she was small. She always believed that it was better for her to keep the pain on the inside instead of sharing and having everybody around her worry and fret over her.

After a couple more moments of silence, Sheila turned her gaze back up into the patient eyes of the small elder, who was sitting in front of her.

"Sensei Watanabe," Sheila began. "I sincerely want to thank you for your hospitality, but I feel that I must get going," she finished quietly.

Sensei raised an eyebrow at this. Not from surprise, but from not expecting this response. "May I ask why?"

Despite what she said, Sheila was in deep turmoil. It was only logical for her to stay where she was where she was safe from harm, but the other side of her told her that she shouldn't be a burden to these nice people. They've taken her in and gave her food and shelter, but she suddenly felt that it was a mistake for coming here in search of help.

_How were they going to help you anyways, Sheila? What did you want them to do? Bring them back to life?_

Sheila sighed heavily. Of course it was impossible to bring them back, but a little bit of wishful thinking couldn't hurt, right?

_And how about telling them the truth?_

She sighed again, pushing back her thoughts. She wants to tell them. She really does, but it just hurts to even think about it, and she doesn't even know how long it would take before she could be open about it. She needed the time to heal.

"I… just don't want to be a burden," Sheila said quietly, turning her gaze back down on her hands. Sensei looked at her with thoughtful eyes, knowing full well that there must be something else in her thoughts that were troubling her. However, he didn't push her for further explanation. Instead, he gave her a warm smile and said, "Sheila, it was Fate that has brought us here together. Do not think that by being here you are a burden."

Sheila gave him a small smile at the kindness of his words. She found that in his words she was happily welcomed, and Sheila found comfort in them. She scolded herself for even being rude towards him when Sensei Watanabe had been nothing but hospitable towards her. Letting out a small laugh, Sheila apologized.

"It's nothing to worry, dear." He smiled. "Just remember that you have others around you that are willing to give you a helping hand."

Sheila nodded as her smile grew, thinking about the other rangers that she had met yesterday. "I will," and feeling more comfortable with the elder, Sheila asked him about what other things happen in the area.

**I hope you guys like Sheila so far. She is a bit indecisive, but remember that she comes with a past, and that, darlings, will be revealed in time!**

**kitten9322: **Well, when I had this planned out in the beginning, I honestly didn't intend the two to be sisters. However, they will be close to each that they'll be like sisters. As for pairings, well, the Blake/Tori pairing is clearly out in the open already, hahaha, and I've had thoughts about the others, but we'll just have to see, yeah? Good luck guessing about Sheila! Muahahah! And thank you! I really appreciate your review!

**And I just want to thank everybody who has reviewed this so far. You all are just lovely people! And so if you haven't already, drop a review for me, please. I'll gladly get back with you soon with another chapter!**


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